Luxembourg will not cut development aid, says PM

Prime Minister Xavier Bettel on Thursday assured the UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres that Luxembourg has no plans to cut development aid spending.

09.10.2014

(CS/BB) Prime Minister Xavier Bettel on Thursday assured the UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres that Luxembourg has no plans to cut development aid spending.

“We confirm our commitment in the area of development aid, despite a budgetary situation, which is not easy,” Bettel said.

The Grand Duchy annually spends around 1 percent of its Gross National Income on development aid, above the UN's 0.7 percent recommendation.

In September, former LSAP MEP Robert Goebbels in an interview with RTL suggested that Luxembourg should cut development aid spending as a budget consolidation measure.

However, Bettel rejected the suggestion in no uncertain terms on Thursday, saying that Luxembourg is taking its responsibility as a member of the international community seriously.

No further budget details were announced, with the official figures for the 2015 budget to be presented next week Tuesday.

Monetary support aside, Luxembourg is not currently planning on welcoming another group of refugees outside of regular asylum seeker procedures. Bettel said that an assessment of the situation needs to be made.

Earlier this year, 28 Syrian refugees, including 19 children, were welcomed in Luxembourg in a transfer from a refugee camp in Jordan, in cooperation with the UN.

In September, Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn had said that no decision has been taken whether to launch a similar programme for refugees from Iraq.